UNESCO MEMBER STATES ADOPT FIRST GLOBAL AGREEMENT ON AI ETHICS

Fri 26 November 2021:

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has adopted the world’s first international artificial intelligence ethics rules, which restrict the use of the technology for “social scoring” and mass surveillance.

Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), introduced the world’s first global standard on artificial intelligence (AI) on Thursday.

The accord was agreed by the members of UNESCO during their General Conference on Tuesday.

“AI has the potential to benefit societies and economies in many ways, but it also presents risks and challenges,” UNESCO said in a press release.

Instead of defining a binding agreement, the organisation said that guidelines serve as a global set of “recommendations.”

The 28-page document, officially titled “Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence,” establishes common ideals and principles for constructing the legal infrastructure required to ensure AI’s healthy development.

“The world needs rules for artificial intelligence to benefit humanity. The recommendation on the ethics of AI is a major answer,” Azoulay told the press conference in Paris.

The agreement, according to UNESCO, “would not only preserve but also promote human rights and dignity, and will serve as an ethical compass and a worldwide normative underpinning for building stronger respect for the rule of law in the digital world.”

Some of the primary components of the recommendation include banning social scoring and mass surveillance, monitoring and evaluating, and protecting the environment.

There is a desire for more openness in personal data control, as well as more boundaries and understanding of AI’s propensity to replicate human qualities and behavior.

On December 7 and 8, the 2021 International Forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education will be held in Qingdao, China, as a hybrid event (online and in-person).

Participants will consider how to develop AI governance and innovation networks so that AI is used for the greater good of education and humanity.

“Decisions impacting millions of people should be fair, transparent and contestable. These new technologies must help us address the major challenges in our world today, such as increased inequalities and the environmental crisis, and not deepening them,” said Gabriela Ramos, UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences.

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